Steve's Nightmare
by Crusher66
Summary: Challenge 206, Steve is afraid of heights because of what happened along time ago. But what is triggering the dream that happend over 15 years ago? Read and find out! PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks for the reviews! FINALLY COMPLETE!
1. Steve's first night of torture

206) From an early movie of Diagnosis Murder called "The House on Sycamore Street" we learn that Steve cannot stand heights. What made him this way?  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anybody in this story.  
  
Synopsis: Steve's first day on the job and he sees a little girl die.  
  
"Patrol Car 15 to the Ramada Inn Hotel. Patrol Car 15 to the Ramada Inn Hotel. Hostage and possible suicide situation on roof." There was Steve siting in patrol car 15 his first day on the LAPD force. He was twenty-four years old at the time with the coffee in hand, blaring sirens, and blinking lights. This six foot two blonde haired man was going about eighty miles an hour just off route 30 in the downtown Los Angeles traffic, passing pulled off cars.  
  
About three minutes Steve Sloan pulled into the entrance of the Ramada Inn Hotel. He parked in a handicap-parking place because it was the closest parking place. 'It's police business; I'm not breaking the law' After parking the car, he ran through the automatic opening doors, through the lobby, past the desk clerk who was giving him a dirty look, and he pressed the elevator up button. 'This is taking to long' He ran to the door marked "stairwell" and opened up the door. He bolted up the eight flights of stairs in his blue police officer uniform. The sweat dripping of his face and landing on the floor. His heart beat beating abruptly in his ears.  
  
After about five minutes of running up the stairs and what seemed to be days for the young cop, he finally reached the top. There he saw a woman with a child in her arms. His face drained of his usual tan color to a ghostly white. He grimaced with horror to see the woman dangling her assumed daughter who couldn't be any older five. The little girl had blonde hair and big blue eyes that pleaded for life. She looked like her mother but had a different personality. She didn't have the heartless recklessness of her mother.  
  
He finally woke up from the horrific nightmare. Steve huffed and puffed while sweat drowned his pillow and sheets. He gasped for air. After a minute or so he finally caught his breath. "Please just leave me alone. I can't relive it over and over," He pleaded with himself. He looked at his bedside alarm clock. It read "3:27." He didn't start till 8:00 A.M. He slid out of his soaked bed. He decided he was too terrified to try to sleep again and relive the fear so he went to his kitchen for a drink of milk. Of course he didn't feel the need for a glass. He sat down at his oak kitchen table thinking what to do. 'Should I go for a drive, take a shower, or watch TV?' He came up with a quick mental list: take a shower, watch a little television, then go for a quick jog, eat breakfast with dad, and then go to work.  
  
He walked to the shower as slow as a snail. He started warming his water and took off his clothes and started taking his shower. After about fifteen minutes he was dressed in tight blue jeans and a Hawaiian shirt and on his couch watching reruns of the Dick Van Dyke show. 'How can people say my dad has a slight resemblance of Dick Van Dyke. That's preposterous.' He was trying to block the appalling illusion that happened earlier.  
  
At 6:30 the sun started to break through the darkness and the Dick Van Dyke Show Marathon had finished. He changed his mental list. He would cook breakfast or at least try to cook for his dad. So he went to the refrigerator and pulled out some eggs and orange juice, he went to the pantry and pulled out a skillet and glasses, and the started his gas stove. At 7:00 the Sloan family were wide-awake. Steve had set the table for two, filled the glasses up, and put scrambled eggs and toast on each plate.  
  
"Steve, are you okay? You look like you haven't slept in years," Mark commented. He was always worried about his oldest child and his only blood related son. His tone was surprisingly in a father tone instead of a life-saving doctor.  
  
"Yeah dad I just had a nightmare." He grimaced at the word nightmare. Nightmare was putting it lightly. Mark, with his fatherly intuition, knew what the nightmare was about. His son only had one nightmare and that was that of the little girl and her mother that injured him mentally. They ate the rest of their breakfast in eerie silence. About fifteen minutes later Steve left for the precinct and Mark left for the hospital. 


	2. Steve's second part of his dream

THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO IMPROVE ALSO. HAVE A GREAT DAY!  
  
When he arrived at work the Captain called him into his office. "Sloan, there's been another murder," The Captain said. 'He didn't sound like his usual grouchy self. It must be bad then.'  
  
"Sir, there are many murders in LA." This fact was already known to be true. Everyday Steve had to investigate at least one murder. He was kept very busy with being a homicide detective.  
  
"I know there are many murders in LA, Sloan," he said with his voice rising, "It's the Miller case. There was another child murdered that we assume to be connected with the Smith's case. I want you to go over it." The Millers case was one of the hardest hit cases to Steve. 'I must find the bastard who did this to these children.' He dragged himself out of the office to his desk. He dug through his cluttered desk to find a manila folder with Miller written in red ink on the tab. He let out a big sigh. He then opened the folder sorrowfully. He didn't obviously want to do this. The folder contained: pictures of a little girl who was physically abused to death found in a downtown alley, her age, and a cluster of other needed information. Steve shut the folder and looked at it with disgust. This was the root of all his nightmares. All murdered children did this to him. Fortunately, it was not very often. He left in his gray Crown Victoria police car to go to the murder seen.  
  
When he arrived he was glad to not see Amanda being the ME on the case. 'She has children, this would be to hard on her.' When he was done examining, investigating, and filing he drove to the hospital to see his dad.  
  
When he arrived he got a warm "hello" smile from Amanda who was on her way to Pathology, a "I'll meet you in five in the doctor's lounge," from his loving dad, and a walk to the doctor's lounge with Jesse.  
  
"Steve, what's up?" Jesse wasn't that stupid to not notice that Steve had something on his mind.  
  
"Jess, it's a murder case with a child involved." It was very hard for him to get it out. He always had a tough time saying "child" and "murder" in the same sentence. It always meant murder.  
  
"Your dad told me about it. Isn't it that Smith girl?" Jesse liked to help out on investigations but it didn't sound like he wanted to do this one. But who would with these circumstances.  
  
"Well it's related to the Smith case, we found another girl, Miller, found physically abused obviously tied down like the child molester did to Smith." 'Already two murders for no damn reason. Little children, how could anybody be so cold! This is when I hate my job the most. I hate to tell the loving parents that they won't see their child playing, laughing, and growing anymore. Their beloved daughter had died and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.  
  
After all day of thinking about the little girl who died because of a child molester he couldn't help but to sit on the beach to clear his head. 'Why would anybody kill a little, harmless girl.' After tiring himself out he somehow fell into a deep sleep with his continued dream.  
  
"Please give me the child ma'am," Steve asked gently. 'They don't train you for a situation like this at the academy.' He was sweating profusely. He became very nervous and anxious to get this over. "Why don't we just talk things over after you give me the child?" At this point Steve cared more about the innocent small girl then about his own life. He started to shake because of his nerves; he was tensing up.  
  
"Just go somewhere else. Let me do what I got to do. You ain't the boss of me! Who do you think you are? This is my child, I'll do what I please!" The destructive mother said. Steve could've sworn her eyes turned red of evil. She called his a few choice words and started to dangle the girl over the edge of the hotel. Steve's heart felt like it broke into a million pieces. He couldn't take this on his first day of work.  
  
"Please help me," The little girl shrieked, "Please." The girl was crying abundantly. 'How can anybody in their right mind do this. But that woman has to be a lunatic!' Steve heard little whimpers coming from her. She kept on say "please" and making Steve full of mixed emotions 


	3. Steve's third part of his dream

The next day at Steve's precinct he was called into Chief Master's  
office.  
  
"Sloan, there's been another child physically murdered. We got lucky  
this time. The kid was smart and fought back. She also had long  
fingernails. We got a DNA match to a rapist named Jerry Jordan. It  
says that he died of a drowning, over five years ago, without ever  
being found, so we have no idea where he is," Chief Masters stated in  
a monotone voice.  
  
"What was the little girl's name and were was she found?" Steve  
questioned Masters while intercepting two folders.  
  
"The little girls name was named Abigail Mitchell. She was found in  
an alley in downtown LA." Chief Master showed no emotions while he  
stated this fact to Steve.  
  
Steve exited the office of Chief Masters. He went over to his small  
desk, which was over crowded paperwork and manila folders. In a small  
stack in the middle of his desk was a small stack of folders. On the  
first tab, it read Marianne Smith, the second read Joyce Miller, the  
third read Abigail Mitchell, and the fourth read Jerry Jordan.  
  
He first looked into the folder with Jerry Jordan's name on it. The  
cover page was his mug shots. The man looked very familiar to Steve.  
The next page read: 6 feet 2 inches (1.94 meters) and weighed 315  
pounds (142.89 Kilograms) had a criminal background in raping women in  
the middle of the night and served ten years and was let out for good  
behavior. Death caused by drowning in the sea. No body was found.  
He turned the page back again and looked at the picture even harder.  
He saw that face before. He saw the criminal's blonde hair, blue  
eyes, and the scar about the eyes recently, but he couldn't remember  
where. Maybe I'll go check out the autopsy reports at Community  
General and then see if dad saw this man before, Steve thought.  
  
After filing recent murders and robberies that were solved he left for  
Community General Hospital. When he arrived, he automatically took  
the elevator down to the pathology lab along with the four folders.  
When he walked through the door, Amanda, who was still standing over a  
body of a small dead child, greeted him.  
  
"Steve, I'm nearly finished with autopsy report and your dad is in  
trauma one with Jesse and probably won't be out for at least an hour  
so why don't you just go up to the lounge and wait. Just take a load  
off. You got bags under your eyes and look like you could go to sleep  
any moment," Amanda said to Steve, while focusing just on his face.  
  
"Okay Amanda I'll be up in the Lounge. I'll be waiting up there for  
you," Steve replied to the demand.  
  
"Okay, just get some rest and get out of here," Amanda joked.  
  
He left for the Lounge. When he got there, he was happy to find it  
empty. Steve slowly made his way to a chair and sat down. Within  
five minutes, he could feel his eyes getting heavier. He tried to  
fight the urge to sleep because of the likelihood of having to relive  
that horrific moment. In another five minutes, he was out like a  
light. He sat with his arms laying on the table and his head right  
about his arms. Steve was starting to have his dream.  
  
"Please, Sir, help me!" The little girl shouted while being dangled  
upon the rooftop of the Ramada Inn Hotel. Steve just looked at the  
young blonde girl who looked like a younger version of her mother, who  
was the one holding her off to the side of the roof.  
  
The mother had on a grin. Her eyes had a fiery reflection. Just  
looking at this situation made you sick to your stomach. Steve,  
trying to look like he calm, was actually very paranoid.  
  
"Please ma'am, just let girl go. We can discuss what's going on and  
get you help." Steve said with his voice monotone. He was surprised  
that it wasn't shaky.  
  
"GO FUCK OFF!" The woman shouted at Steve. Her hands shaking. She  
let go of the young child. The young girl's blonde hair raised  
upwards as she fell to the ground. Steve ran to the side of the hotel  
and tried to grab her. The mother pushed Steve off as well when he  
leaned over the edge. He was lucky unlike the girl and had grabbed a  
hold of the edge.  
  
The woman started to exit the rooftop. Steve felt his body pulling  
downwards but the gravitational pull. His arms felt like Jell-O. He  
looked down and saw microscopic people. He looked upwards and began  
to pull. Steve then swung his legs over top of the ledge. He heard  
sirens. The walkie-talkie spoke that the suspect was apprehended. He  
sat down and cried. The emotions were just flowing through his body.  
  
He suddenly awoke to Amanda shaking him and calling out his name.  
"Are you okay?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Steve had sweat pouring off his face. Amanda handed  
him the autopsy report.  
  
"Dr. Bentley call on line three. Dr. Bentley call on line three."  
The intercom read throughout the hospital. Amanda gave him a pat on  
the back and then left.  
  
Steve stood up and walked around the still empty room full of mixed  
emotions. He couldn't stand the emotional torture of this case and  
that case awhile ago.  
  
Author's note: Sorry about the long wait. I just started school and have had band everyday after school. I also haven't really been in the mood to write but one of my best friends Robbie made me get into a good mood. 


	4. Steve's fourth part of his nightmare

"Son, Amanda told me you were in here," Mark called into Steve as he entered the Doctor's lounge. He made his way to the coffee pot and poured a cup a coffee. "Want some?"  
  
"Nah," Steve responded. "Hey dad take a look at these. Maybe I'm missing something that you can get." He handed four files: Stacy Smith, Michelle Miller, Abigail Mitchell. Steve still held one murder report for a different case.  
  
"Steve, Stacy Smith, about a month ago, was in the hospital because her health was worsening. She had cancer," Mark said, his eyes still focused on her file.  
  
"So then the murders were done out remorse for the girls?" Steve asked. It put things in a different perspective.  
  
"No, Michelle Miller and Abigail Mitchell suffered broke bones. They would've been back to normal in no time." Mark looked up at his son. He could see what this investigation was doing to him. Steve's eyes told Mark he was sleepy and fighting a war inside of pain. "Son take care of your self. I don't want to have to admit you to the hospital."  
  
"I have been dad. I just haven't been sleeping good." Mark was about to open up his mouth to speak and Steve cut him off. "I don't want anything to make me sleep. I'm fine."  
  
"O.K. son," Mark responded.  
  
"Dr. Mark Sloan and Dr. Jesse Travis to ER. Dr. Sloan and Dr. Travis to ER stat," rang the static voice through the intercom.  
  
Mark dropped the files and started to get ready to leave the doctor's office. "I have to go. Go home and take a nap," Mark commanded.  
  
After Mark left the lounge Steve said, "If only it was as easy to do as said."  
  
Steve scooped up the folders and headed for his vehicle and then he drove home. When he arrived home he took a shower and plopped down on the couch. He sat with his six pack abs showing and his black boxers on. He turned on the 11 o' clock news on. It talked about all the murders, fires, and robberies. He took notice that the world was getting worse and worse. 'Is there any good in this world?' He began to fall asleep.  
  
~~~DREAM~~~  
  
After Steve pulled himself over the ledge he heard something.  
  
"Suspect captured and confessed. Victim died on scene," the radio strapped on his shoulder said. He slid down to the floor. It was the first time he ever cried. He put the palms of his hands to his eyes. He was in shock. He got a child killed and he too almost died.  
  
"Rookie? You okay Rook?" the radio said. Rookie was his name because he was the newest police officer. He shook off the crying and his emotions and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I little shaken."  
  
Sorry for the long wait. Been too busy. So on so forth. Happy New Years! 


	5. Steve's Dream

Steve was asleep for a total of fifteen in the doctor's lounge. Amanda came up sat there watching Steve drooling on those papers. She scooped the papers up so they wouldn't get too wet. As she picked them up, she accidentally dropped them. She hurriedly, picked them up and tried to place them in the correct folders. When she came to the mug shot of Jerry Jordan she shouted.  
  
"Steve! Steve! Get up, now!" She shook Steve even though he was beginning to wake.  
  
"Amanda. Calm down. What's wrong?" He held her tight after noticing she was shivering. She was in shock.  
  
"Him." She pointed to the picture on the floor. "His name is Josh Hinz. He works as a custodian. Why is he in your files?"  
  
"Amanda. His name is Jerry Jordan. Have you seen him lately?" He talked as tenderly as he could. She was still shaking in his arms. He gently placed her in the nearest chair while he got up to give her coffee. He stirred in two spoons of sugar and creamer and handed her the mug of coffee. She took it and took a sip. As she held the mug, droplets of coffee landed on the table. "Amanda. Look at me. I need you to tell me where he is. He is wanted for the murder of three children."  
  
"He's...He's...at...children's...wing." Steve took of toward the elevator. He pressed the up button. He looked above and saw that the elevator was on the ninth floor and he was on the second. He decided to take the staircase to the children's floor, which was only a level up. When he got there he saw Jerry Jordan going into the storage.  
  
"Stop. Police." Jerry pulled out his small hand gun and fired a shot. Steve dived out of the way, landing on food cart. He pulled out his gun and shot the man in the chest. Steve got up slowly, his gun still pointed at him.  
  
Steve got close to Mr. Jordan and herd a faint whisper, "So your were smart enough to figure out it was me. See you in hell." His body went limp. His body floating above a pool of crimson blood. His white hand held his gun.  
  
"I hope you find peace," murmured Steve aloud, placing his gun away.  
  
~~~An Hour Later~~~  
  
After Steve got done with the paper work, the clean up of the blood, and had the body transferred down to the morgue he went back to the doctor's lounge. He sat down and reflected on today's events and the events that happened years ago. He sat down at the table and laid his chin on his palm. He was glad that he was the only one in the lounge. He really didn't want to deal with his dad at that moment giving him lectures, Jesse would ask him about everything that happened, and Amanda would question how a guy like that got a job in the hospital. He was out within minutes. This time his nap was peaceful.  
  
~~~Steve's Dream~~~  
  
A young woman, with blonde wavy hair and blue eyes, smiled. She wore a long white flowing gown. Her skin was white but she had red luscious lips and rosy cheeks. "It's not your fault. You tried your best. I'm in a better place. I'll always be here for you. Looking over you with your mother and sister. I am with you always and forever." She slowly faded away and he was left with no dreams.  
  
~~~Doctor's Lounge~~~  
  
Mark checked on his son and smiled. He knew everything was going to be okay. His son would be back to normal. 


End file.
